


For Zoe Kimura

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, Gen, Sad, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 12:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: A what-if story. What if Mac was on the R. V. Bancroft, too? Or, 33 survivors become 32 in the end. Jack’s POV. Retelling of episode 210.





	For Zoe Kimura

Jack can feel the military plane shake and rattle around him. He’s sitting on the hard, unupholstered bench, dressed in his warmest clothes because the cargo hold’s not exactly toasty. And there’re boxes of provisions everywhere, held in place by strong netting. But he doesn’t pay attention to any of that. After years and years in the army, he’s used to traveling rough and this was the best that Matty could find him at such short notice.

Besides, his mind’s elsewhere. As he sits there with his elbows propped up on his knees, staring down at his gloved hands, all he can think of is Mac. Mac who took a few days off after his latest brush with death to nerd out, to just be a geek for a week, to travel to some arctic research station dealing with-with  _penguins_ or  _icicles_ or  _who-knows-what_. And instead…

Jack rubs his face hard. He should’ve gone with him. He  _knows_  that bad shit happens when Mac travels anywhere alone. Bad shit happens when they travel together, too, but at least then he can keep an eye on the kid and make sure he gets home in one piece, sometimes a little bruised, sometimes a little charred around the edges, sure, but alive. And mentally  _sound_.

But this time, this time Jack had other priorities he thought couldn’t wait, namely Elwood. Elwood who’s now sitting locked up in one of Phoenix Foundation’s cell in protective custody while Jack’s flying north to be where he should’ve been from the start: by Mac’s side.

 _Jesus_. How could have Jack known? It was a stupid geeky trip on a stupid geeky college research ship with a group of 31 college geeks and their teacher. It should’ve been  _safe_. As safe as the Arctic Sea can be, that is, but since Jack has yet to hear of any terrorists or madmen prowling the Big North, he thought Mac would be alright. And instead…

Yeah,  _instead_. Instead, an explosion killed the captain and the crew of that ship and stranded the geek squad in the middle of nowhere at negative 56 degrees with help more than 12 hours away. And yet, with Mac on board, the situation wasn’t hopeless, they were  _dealing_ with issues as they arose and everything was just…  _fine_. More or less.

Until the ship’s hull was crushed and ripped apart like a wet tissue. Not even MacGyver can stop icebergs from behaving the way icebergs usually do: they plow through everything. Stranded ships included.

Jack will never, ever forget the sound of metal tearing and twisting under enormous pressure. And he’ll never forget Mac’s look, his expression in the moment he realized what was happening and how it would all end. He’ll never forget because he was right there with him, through a satellite connection, they all were - he and Riley and Cage and Matty - following their friend’s fight for survival live through a webcam, unable to help, unable do  _anything_ but pay witness… and  _be there_ for him when he needed it.

Like when he did the math and arrived at one simple conclusion.

One hole. One room. One door…

One door that could only be closed from the inside.

And one person who would have to die to save everyone else.

Jack remembers every word Mac told him. He can still see his pale face, his lips turned blue from the ice cold water that he’d been wading through for long, long minutes by then. He can still hear his perfectly reasonable, calm and accepting voice…

“If I don’t seal this door right now, the whole ship will sink before the coast guard can get here. I did the math myself…”

And then Jack yelled. He yelled and he raged, he even threw things. And then he  _begged_. He begged and he pleaded,  _don’t do this, Mac, please, help’s only thirty minutes away, don’t, please,_ please _…_

“I can’t risk the lives of these kids, Jack. I won’t…”

Never before in his life had Jack felt this helpless. He wanted to reach through the screens and throttle the self-sacrificing idiot. He wanted to shake him and hug him and never let go…

The plane jumps and drops, hitting a hard turbulence, and Jack’s torn from his reverie. He can feel the nose of the craft dip as they head for descent. In a few minutes, they’ll be on the ground and there’ll be a car waiting for him to take him to the harbor where he would wait for the coast guard’s icebreaker to come in, carrying the survivors from the research ship  _R. V. Bancroft_.

32 of them, not 33.

Soon now.

* * *

Jack’s there when the icebreaker finally comes in, delayed by a storm out on the sea. He’s been waiting there for hours, in the harbor master’s office, staring out into the breaking dawn, patiently, quietly.

He’s there, on the pier, when the students file out, ushered away by the coast guard to be taken to a warm and cozy hotel in the city where they would wait for someone from the university or maybe their parents to come and pick them up, Jack doesn’t know. Nor does he care. He’s there for someone else.

There. On the gangway, coming down last with a duffle bag dangling loosely from his hand.  _Mac_. He looks pale, washed out, his red parka seemingly the only splash of color on him. He’s shuffling down with his head bent low, drained, sad and broken.

When he finally notices Jack waiting for him, his head shoots up and he freezes, and Jack can see clearly the dark bruise on his forehead, so stark against his skin. The bruise that under any other circumstances would make Jack’s blood boil - but now he’s glad to see it. Because that bruise saved Mac’s life.

 _Zoe Kimura_  saved Mac’s life. With a lead pipe and more guts than Jack thought possible.

Because that’s what the pretty teacher whom Mac liked so much - Jack could tell - did. She hit Mac over the head, knocking him out. Then she dragged him from the room and locked him out - and herself  _in_ , sealing the door from within with one stroke of a match.

Room sealed. Hole sealed. One person’s  _fate_ … sealed.

Jack stayed with her those last few minutes. He stayed and he talked to her and he kept her company till the very last moment. Because it was the right thing to do. Because he liked the girl who geeked out about icicles with Mac on live feed and who craved ice cream while trapped on ship in the Arctic Sea.

And because Jack was grateful to her. He hated to see her die - if he could, he would’ve traded places with her in a heartbeat, he wouldn’t hesitate! - but if that had been  _Mac_ in there… Jack didn’t think he would’ve survived watching the kid die.

For Zoe Kimura, Jack cried. For Angus MacGyver…

He did ask her  _why_. Why she did it when all she had to do was stand back and do nothing.

Her smile was as sweet as it was heartbreaking when she told him, “I couldn’t have let him die for us. These are  _my_ kids.  _My_ responsibility. _My choice_ …” She paused then and as the water started choking her, she added, “Tell him I’m glad I met him, okay? That I wish we got to share that ice cream. I know a great place, he would love it…”

And he will. Jack will tell Mac all that. Maybe on their way back. Maybe over a beer, safely at home. They will talk about Zoe Kimura and about the sacrifice she made to save his boy’s life. About her death that broke Mac to pieces.

Jack waits for Mac to reach him. And when he does, Jack doesn’t say anything, he just folds Mac into his arms and holds him tight. For a long time, Mac doesn’t react at all, he simply stands there rigid and unmoving. Then, dropping his bag, he slowly hugs Jack back, fisting his hands into the back of Jack’s sky blue parka, hiding his face in Jack’s shoulder.

Jack’s willing to stand there till the end of time if that’s what Mac needs, he’ll hold him together and he’ll hold him up, anything the kid needs. But in the end, Mac pulls back and Jack lets him. Mac’s eyes are red-rimmed, their blue shade even starker than usual.

“Can we go home now, please?” Mac asks hoarsely, blinking hard.

Nodding, Jack bends down to pick up Mac’s bag. “Yeah, buddy. Let’s go home.”


End file.
